Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Have Very Different Opinions on Abortion

By Amber Bogdanowicz | Monday Monday Staff - 2016-10-27

Not much has been said about abortion in terms of the presidential candidate’s opinions on the matter. Where do the candidates stand? In general, Hillary is pro-abortion and Donald Trump is pro-life. The third debate provided some interesting responses to this issue.

A Question on Abortion

Chris Wallace from FoxNews, the moderator, asked the two about their opinion on abortion. State abortion regulations strictly regulate abortions and how the Supreme Court is assembled will largely determine how Roe v. Wade is handled in accordance with a woman’s right to abortion.

Wallace said, “Mr. Trump, you’re pro-life. But I want to ask you specifically, do you want the Court, including the justices that you will name, to overturn Roe v. Wade which includes — in fact, states — a woman’s right to abortion?”

Trump answered, “Well, if that would happen, because I am pro-life and I will be appointing pro-life judges, I would think that that would go back to the individual states.”

Roe v. Wade

When Wallace pushed about overturning Roe v. Wade, Trump said they might have to overturn it if they put three pro-life Justices in office. This wouldn’t be “automatic,” and Trump wants to leave the decision ultimately to the states. He would like a 20-week ban on abortion which would conflict with Roe v. Wade. Trump also said that to Clinton, it would be ok to literally “rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month.”

Clinton’s Perspective

On the other end of the spectrum, Clinton said the restrictions on abortions placed by states are too stringent. Over the last few years, over a hundred laws have been passed to restrict access to abortion and several other reproductive health care practices. Clinton also commented on the emotional aspect of the right to abortion. It’s all about “rights” and “choices” to Clinton. She explained, “I have met with women who, toward the end of their pregnancy, get the worst news one could get, that their health is in jeopardy if they continue to carry to term or that something terrible has happened or just been discovered about the pregnancy. I do not think the United States government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions. You should meet with some of the women that I’ve met with.”

In respect to other countries and their practices, she said that she has been to places “where governments forced women to have abortions like they did in China or force women to bear children like they used to do in Romania. I can tell you the government has no business in the decisions that women make with their families in accordance with their faith, with medical advice, and I will stand up for that right.”

Clinton is talking about a totally different angle on abortion than Trump. Trump is not talking about forcing women to have abortions, rather, he is talking about protecting the lives of children being aborted late in the pregnancy.